Global Media News

Social Media: Changing the traditional way of reporting

   Today, we use social media for just about everything. Social media used to be for just communicating with friends, now it has become so much more than that. There are many different types of social media sites besides facebook and they are used in many different ways by many different types of people.  Journalists have been relying more and more on social media when researching topics for stories, so much that it has greatly changed the way journalists report stories. 

      Margaret Sullivan, Public Editor of The New York Times, has noted the two different arguing sides of how social media has had a very significant impact on the way journalists are reporting their stories.  Sullivan uses two different examples by quoting two "thought-leaders" in journalism: Tom Kent, standards editor for the Associated Press, Jay Rosen, a journalism professor at New York University. According to Kent: 

 “everyone understands objectivity differently…it is a dangerously fuzzy concept…and we dismiss it at our peril. Journalists should keep their own personal opinions and beliefs to themselves, he says, in order to keep a “commitment to balance.

     Jay Rosen,  has a completely different standpoint on the issue at hand. Rosen stated that objectivity  is an

 “outdated concept” and that journalists should let their audience see their own point of view. What he calls the “view from nowhere” – traditional journalistic impartiality – “is getting harder to trust, and ‘here’s where I’m coming from’ is more likely to be trusted.”

Sullivan explains that she has a great deal of respect for both sides, but tends to favor Kent's arguement, the more conservative side, more than Rosen's. Sullivan explains: 

Yet she recognizes that while social media can create problems, it can also “create opportunity – it’s a way to communicate that we haven’t had before.”

She feels that sometimes social media can have too many opinions to be accurate and may cause chaos instead of answering people's questions. At the same time it is a good way of informing the public what is going on in the world. 

 

Age Restrictions For Social Media Platforms

    Should there be a minimum age requirement for social media apps such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and  Snapchat? Well there actually is, but ages vary between apps. According to Shea Bennett "back in 2009 Twitter stated that one must be 13 years or older to obtain access for an account". But recently Twitters privacy policy now states;

    "Our Services are not directed to persons under 13. If you become aware that your child has provided us with personal information without your consent, please contact us at [email protected]. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, we take steps to remove such information and terminate the child’s account."

    Why did Twitter change their policy? Unlike Twitter, Facebook and Instagram clearly states when signing up for their accounts the minimum age is 13. Even though they state the minimum age is 13 that does not mean kids can simply just lie about their age to obtain access to these popular social media platforms. Its not like someone checks your ID when signing up for one of these platforms.

    Also why is the minimum age for Snapchat only 13 with all these sexting scandals and nude pictures being spread around the internet. I believe the age of just 13 years old is too young to be allowed to use these social media platforms. Their needs to be a more secure way to make sure underage kids do not receive access to these platforms. 

          

 

Security issues with the iPhone 6 that we don't know about?

    China just made an approval on releasing the IPhone 6. Apple Fans can now start making preorders for the phone on Oct. 10. On Tuesday Apple explained that the Iphone went on sale only to a few major markets on September 19, just a selected few.

    The phone had to be approved by "the Chinese Ministry of Industry" before being sold in the country and unffortunatly for China, they claim to have a small security concern with Apple's IOS operating system. The Ministry said  "It was worried about diagnostic tools that run on the Iphone that could compromise users private data when the users connect their phones to computers or when they take the phones to repair shops to be fixed". 

    What does this say about Apple? Are they selling products and they're not being completely honest about? Is our personal information safe in our own phones like we wish it to be?

 

Apple's iPhone 6 Plus Bending Controversy: #Bendgate

Many rumors about Apple’s new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have surfaced over the past couple of weeks since its recent release earlier this month. One of the most controversial rumors, which in fact have been proved to be true, is how easy it is for the device to actually bend even while it’s in your pocket. Accodring to 9News, Apple’s only official response to the matter is that "with normal use, a bend in (an) iPhone is extremely rare and through our first six days of sale, a total of nine customers have contacted Apple with a bent iPhone 6 Plus."

The following YouTube video shows the teens walking into an Apple store, bending an iPhone 6 Plus and rushing out the store.

  

According to The Guardian, after the iPhone 6 was put under a compression bending test it found that the 4.7in iPhone 6, which is 7.1mm thick, would show permanent bending with the equivalent of a 70lb (31.8kg) weight placed on the centre of its back. The 5.5in iPhone 6 Plus deformed at 90lbs, and the 4in iPhone 5 - which is 7.6mm thick - at 130lbs. In addition, CBS News reports that consumers have concluded that "it took significant force to do this kind of damage to all these phones, while nothing is (evidently) indestructible, we expect that any of these phones should stand up to typical use." There you have it –yes the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus can bend fairly easily, but one thing needs to be taken into consideration, this new version of Apple iPhone is made of aluminum which is extremely malleable. As iPhones become thinner and longer with bigger screens, their relative strength decreases. 

Who do we blame for leaked celebrity nudes?

Recently over a dozen female celebrities nude photos have been leaked around the world wide web straight from their smart phone devices  for everyone to see. Celebrities such as Gabrielle Union, Kim Khardasion, Jeniffer Lawrence, and so much more.

China Bans Instagram In Midst of Protest

 

    Protestors in China are going to have to find a new social media platform to post on. China banned Instagram as their pro-democracy protests continued through Sunday. 

 

StealthGenie App

The maker of the stealthgenie app was arrested for the apps obstruction of privacy. The app was used for spouses to monitor one another to clarify cheating suspicions. As you can tell as appealing as this may be to some people you can see why it is highly illegal. The app would key into phones and tap into phone conversations to look for allegations for a spouse. 

This is an example of an app going too far and invading the privacy of phone users. Not only is it wrong doing to the customers but also the networks. It could have been worse if it ended up being used for more than jusr angry spouses. Media could have gotten a hold on this source and hack into peoples phones for leads on stories or millions of other reasons. Anything that could have went through this app is clearly illegal. 

There have been lots of other apps that have been banned for bringing harm to users and others, such as apps that would help drivers avoid DUI checkpoints, and certain apps that would allow strangers to meet to hook up.

I think that StealthGenie can relate to the media because even though the premise of the app is to catch cheating spouses, what it really is, is phone hacking. Media could take phone hacking to try to get an edge on other media, and for anything else. This is a technology that should never be accessed by the public because it can be abused. It should only be used for law enforcement and thats why it was banned.

How Much Privacy Does Your Instagram Really Offer?

Is The Photo Map on Instagram Bad for User Privacy?

FireChat: Protesters in Hong Kong Use an Off-Grid App for Communication

At first glance FireChat is just another social networking application like WhatsApp, GroupMe, Instagram, and Twitter. In fact, FireChat is like a combination of all these apps put together –it is an app where users can create group chats with up to 10,000 people, and where users can share pictures and videos. Yet the most captivating detail of this app is that it does not require internet data to work. Using Bluetooth, FireChat can create a network between phones up to 80 yards apart from each other. 

The app’s name is very self explanatory. According to South China Morning Post, Micha A. Benoliel the company’s co-founder and CEO says, “We started seeing a small increase on Saturday, and then the numbers just boomed on Sunday. It’s huge; we didn’t have that many users before.” Within a matter of 24 hours about 100,000 people have downloaded the application FireChat and up to 33,000 people were using it at the same time; thus being the highest record Open Garden has ever had. 

Given that in Hong Kong students and their supporters are protesting China’s refusal to back democratic elections for the territory, there is a fear that the Government will shut down the internet network entirely. Reported by The New York Times, Beijing has occasionally blocked the Internet during times of unrest, as it did in the far-western region of Xinjiang during ethnic riots in 2009. Instagram has already been blocked from China’s mainland. Protesters have turned to FireChat as refugee in case the internet is overthrown completely. 

It is very easy for China to block off Facebook, Instagram, television, and even the internet. But what can China possibly do about a social network that doesnt need internet data or cellular data to function? FireChat is perhaps the only device protesters can use as a leeway for communication.

Journalists Try Virtual Reality Goggles for Reporting

There is a new possible radical shift in traditional journalism. A leading media company is venturing into 3D technology for reporting.